


Only The Brightest Of Light

by UglyJackal



Series: Final Fantasy Shenanigans [9]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Crystal Tower Arc (Final Fantasy XIV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 18:21:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20362999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UglyJackal/pseuds/UglyJackal
Summary: There was a saying that went around now and again that stars could not shine without darkness.





	Only The Brightest Of Light

There was a saying that went around now and again that  _ stars could not shine without darkness _ , and it amused Jack to think how true it was of most of the people in his life. Especially when thinking of how, without murder, the title of Warrior of Light would fall at only the first hurdle.

But it was so hardened in its truth when, surrounded by the gloomy clouds of the World of Darkness, the light that spilled from the slit that led back to their own world pushed their legs to run faster, their muscles to push past the smouldering pain of fatigue, their bones to keep them standing for just one moment more, their blood to keep pumping, to keep going and going until they could just reach out and  _ touch _ the glimmering strands of bright light, to grasp their chance at life. Their own breathing was more prevalent in their minds than it had ever been and ever would be. And  _ then _ -

‘Nero, you must keep going! You cannot stop here!’

‘Go without me! If I am to die here then it’ll be because I bloody well said so!’

Jack snarled, every tendon and sinew smoking, trembling with the effort, with the adrenaline bleeding from his own fur, with the pure frustration of  _ everything _ , teeth glistening against the blinding light of their door back home. Everything had been about the push; the push to defeat the queen of this realm, the push to abandon those they had left behind, the push to keep running and the push to keep  _ living _ . And it seemed to have pushed Jack to his breaking point. 

‘For fuck’s sake, Nero,  _ get up and keep going like the rest of us, you self-entitled prick _ !’ he roared above the blood pounding in his ears.

Nero shot him a glare made of daggers and bullets, one that would surely have put a stop to his pulsing heart had he let it. His mouth opened to spit out a withering retort, but Jack’s own returning glare of arcane magic and sacred runes stopped his tongue from being put to use.

Because they had no time for fooling around. With every second that they wasted by staying stationary, the less time they had to make it to the world-splitting seam that cut through the very aether of the conjoined worlds.

‘Come on, G’raha,’ the hrothgar snorted, ‘it will do no good for all three of us to be lost down here. If Nero wants to be a drama queen and throw his life away by staying here, then that’s  _ his _ problem.’

The young mi’qote looked back at Jack, inexperienced eyes filled with the blood of royals meeting the eye of a forest that only wished for rest, that had seen far too much, had met with too little happiness in such a short period of time, and he  _ understood _ . 

Everything that Jack had ever felt all throughout his life, from when he had been held in the loving arms of a mother who no longer even knew his name to when he had stood in front of the scaled nightmare of the Dragonsong War, everything in between and afterwards, G’raha  _ understood _ . 

And most of all, he understood how  _ everything _ had led to every little bit of anger that had bled into Jack’s voice and words when he spat his thoughts at Nero only moments ago.

Jack had spent simply too much time waiting for other people. He was making his own rules now. Now  _ other people _ waited for  _ him _ .

G’raha stood firm and nodded at the hrothgar. He turned to the Garlean behind them and threw a nod in his direction too. And then he turned back to the flood of light that spilled through the opening that was very quickly being stitched back together, and he  _ ran _ , the older hrothgar close on his heels.

They leapt into the light, hands grasping for purchase on their own world. And  _ then _ -

Jack’s paws met firm muscle. Muscle that bulged under familiar arms. Familiar arms that had held him so often after he awoke from a nightmare, throat spasming as he chirped his fear. Arms that could  _ only _ be- 

‘Cid!’ the hrothgar gasped, oxygen flooding his lungs too quickly for him to swallow.

He had collapsed on the cool crystal of the allagan floor, fingers of chilled rock digging into his back, paws gripping to Cid’s arms, who’s own hands were holding Jack’s wrists. His heart was beating in his ears, his remaining vision in his eye was clouded with the melancholy clouds from the realm they had just exited, his chest was pounding, his lungs were breaking and begging for air, but all of the oxygen in his mouth was stuck in his teeth. Underneath the pure  _ noise _ of his panic, there was a calming voice, a deep voice, a kind voice; the sort of voice that you wanted to hear when panic wrapped her piercing fingers around your throat.

‘Easy, love, careful now, just breathe,’ it said, ‘copy me, yeah? Like this-‘ his paw was placed against a firm chest ‘-in… and out… in… out… with me, baby, that’s it.’

The clouds were starting to clear, the sparkling ocean in Cid’s bright eyes washing them away. The noise was starting to stop, the warmth of Cid as a being muffling it. The oxygen started to slip between his fangs, the rhythm of Cid’s chest guiding its way.

With a final deep exhale, Jack struggled to sit up and slumped his forehead to rest against his boyfriend’s shoulder, breathing in his scent. A chuffing noise came from his throat as he finally settled back into contentment. He felt arms wrap around his shoulders, but they were not dressed with sharp knives that would break his skin and bleed panic into his veins, they were arms that took that poison from his arteries. And Jack was eager to return the embrace.

The fate of Nero and the Crystal Tower could wait; he was where he needed to be right now.


End file.
